Process · 4 min read
What is a mortgage rate lock?
July 14, 2026 · Written by Bill Egan, NMLS 7342
Short answer
A lock is the lender’s agreement to hold a specific rate and points for a set number of days while the loan is approved and closed. If that window runs out before you close, the loan is re-priced at whatever the market is doing, unless you pay to extend it. A lock is not an approval, and it is not a promise that the house will appraise.
01
Why this comes up
Rates move while the HOA sits on a questionnaire, and you do not know whether to lock, float, or panic. A 15-day lock looked cheaper until the calendar got real.
02
Where this goes wrong
A 15-day lock is taken on a condo. The questionnaire is late. The lock expires, the market is worse, and extension costs eat the credit you needed to close. Or you float through a rate spike the week of CTC. Either way the Closing Disclosure changes and the three-day wait can restart.
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What we do about it
We size the lock to the bottleneck — condo questionnaire, appraisal, gift still in transit — not to a wish. If you have a contract deadline, we lock. We will not put you on a short lock and hope the association manager comes back from vacation.
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How to get ready
Ask how many days the lock is, what an extension costs, and what happens if it expires. A 45-day lock costs more than 15 days because the lender is taking more market risk. Match the lock to how long this file will actually take, not to a headline about the Fed.